Chapter 28 - Final Stronghold (CF)
Blizzerd was exhausted. Almost every day, Ludwig was getting his soldiers to drag him down to the room where he would be bound and pressed for information, as well as updated on what the Koopas knew of Tubba - going into the Kremling Islands, and then vanishing. Blizzerd held his tight-lipped presence, refusing to concede anything to Ludwig. Despite Ludwig’s constant threats that he would extricate and destroy the magical energy that was deep inside every living creature in the Mushroom World, Blizzerd held firm. He knew that Ludwig would only target him - as the most magical creature of Tubba’s friends left, Ludwig had the most to gain by breaking Blizzerd’s resolve and firm loyalty to Tubba. It would be too wasteful to remove such a magical creature - Wizzerds were rare, very rare in this part of the world. Ludwig’s ultramarine eyes burned with greater intensity and fury at each rejection Blizzerd subjected him to. The weeks kept dragging on, and Blizzerd, as much as he displayed his stoic face to Ludwig, wasn’t sure how much longer it would go on. How much longer he could go on, chained to the roof, in extreme pain, everyday... it was a taking a lot out of his eighteen year old shape. Sometimes he wondered... would it just be easier to give in? He tore angrily at his glowing green chains. If he could just be freed, his magic would be enough to get him out of the Place of the Unruly. The loud clanking echoed, the aberration in the still, dark night, stirring some of the prisoners sleeping just down the flight of stairs. The Fire Brother, in front of the cell that the other battlers were in, let out a very audible sigh and beginning to ascend the steps to the roof. Blizzerd knew that he would just get a talking to, or if the guard was in a particularly bad mood, the chain tightening around his body. He heard heavy steps - steps very unlike a Fire Brother’s more elegant ones. No, these steps belonged to a species of considerable weight. He angled his internal ears to the source of the noise, hearing the heavy steps echo up the stairwell to the roof. The Fire Brother turned, clearly aware of the noise as well. “Ah, I’m here on Ludwig’s orders.” A voice, familiar yet unfamiliar, echoed. Blizzerd strained against his chains to see past the Fire Brother. He couldn’t make out the shape behind him... it looked achingly familiar, the same broad shoulders, the same fat lips... had Tubba finally showed up to help them? “You won’t be needed here. I can handle them.” The Fire Brother saluted and instantly began to stride down the stairs away from Blizzerd. His heart in his mouth, Blizzerd waited for the Fire Brother to stride past the other battlers’ cell, so that he could catch sight of Tubba. He admonished himself - how had he ever doubted that Tubba would not be able to come and free them? He had come. And then he saw teal. Chubba. That was why the shape was so familiar, and so resemblant of Tubba. It was his twin, and suddenly, Blizzerd was positive that freedom was not the first thing on Chubba’s agenda, feeling anger surge through him - Chubba had stood aimlessly by, idly unconcerned, as Blizzerd’s best friend was hit by a magic blast by Ludwig and killed, his dark blue scales dulling as the life ebbed from them. There he was, standing in front of the other cell, on Ludwig’s orders, here to torment them once more. Blizzerd was too far to make out the hushed words Chubba muttered to the other battlers, but he narrowed his large oblong eyes as the large Clubba strode up the stone stairs toward Blizzerd, shivering a little as he reached the top of the tower. “Oh, hey, Blizzerd,” Chubba greeted him as if this was nothing new, “long time no see. What have you been up to?” You teleported Gonzales and I to a random field in the Mushroom Kingdom after using our lives to blackmail Tubba into returning back with you for years of mindless battling in the Glitz Pit! Blizzerd felt aggrieved at Chubba’s light tone, as if he had done nothing wrong. Is there no remorse? No guilt? How dare he? Barely internalizing that Chubba was taking off his chains, all Blizzerd felt was his chains loosening around him. Committing himself to one course of action before he thought of another, Blizzerd waited for them to loosen completely, before erupting out of the chains and into the pitch black sky. He circled around, feeling the wind on his metallic body as he took to the skies, a cathartic relief from the binding and restrictive properties of the chains. But his newfound freedom was the last of his concerns - he let his eyes search the tower below, knowing that his dark body would camouflage in the dark night sky. His cold and unforgiving pupils narrowed on the teal body that was standing in front of the two posts he had been chained onto, and the deactivated, worthless black chains, their magical prowess and green energy gone, lying beside him. Wind whistled around him as he dove toward the tower, feeling his veins and body roar with delight, his limbs respond fluidly as he stretched his four hands in front of him, bent on one thing. Making Chubba understand what he had done. He didn’t need magic, he didn’t need anything another Wizzerd could teach him, his instincts would be enough. Crashing into Chubba with full force, knocking the teal enemy to the floor, he used his four hands to pin the extremities of Chubba’s body down. Chubba lay on his shell, his eyes bored as he looked up at Blizzerd. “If you opened your eyes, you’d realize I’m not the enemy.” Blizzerd felt the blubbery scales of the Clubba roll underneath his various hands, and he gripped tighter. He would not believe this treacherous Clubba, who was the source of all the pain that Blizzerd had ever heard about. “Careful about demonizing me, Blizzerd.” Chubba could have been safe at home with the tone he spoke to Blizzerd in. “Has it occurred to you, had I not brought my brother to the Glitz Pit, he would be dead?” His eyes showed only no fear, only a challenge: Are you prepared to risk it all on the word of Tubba? “What are you doing here?” Snarled Blizzerd, moving his top two hands off of Chubba’s arms and drawing them closer to the scales connecting his head and body. It didn’t matter that Clubba’s had no neck - any species would succumb to the right pressure around that area. “Why are you here?” “Aaron, can you please explain it to this idiot before he does something he’ll regret?” Chubba said, exasperation evident in every part of his body, from his slack arms and disapproving eyes. Blizzerd realized with a jolt that the rest of the battlers were free, from Shazam, to Sarge, to Aaron, to Xavier, and were standing next to them on the roof. Blizzerd had been too focused on Chubba to notice. Taking a step forward, the human, his eyes understanding for Blizzerd’s reaction, put a hand up to bar any further action on Chubba. “Chubba’s here to free us.” Aaron explained, his face breaking into a slight smile, his long black hair ruffling in the breeze. “We’re safe.” “Why?” Blizzerd snapped, looking back down at Chubba, who looked back up with disdainful, challenging pupils. It was that expression that made Blizzerd boil with fury, make him want to do anything to get through to Chubba, anything to make him feel fear. Chubba let out an insolent yawn, before answering. “Ludwig has used me too many times. He needs to understand that I’m the superior of us two. Of course, he won’t now - since he ascended to the Koopa throne a year ago, his head has been steadily swelling with all the accolades he’s been bestowing upon himself. The time has come for me to dissociate from Ludwig. I’m taking a parting shot, too. What worse things for him than his top prisoners escaping?” With regret, Blizzerd realized that Chubba was probably telling the truth. “The others are in the other tower,” Blizzerd said gruffly, hoping to distract the others from his vicious reaction to Chubba by flicking his antenna in the direction of the tower behind him. “We have to save them, too.” He floated upward, letting Chubba regain his feet. “Oh, no.” Chubba shook his head with steady disapproval. “By now, Ludwig would’ve figured out my betrayal. I should be long gone, and soon. Whatever you do now is up to you. I’ve put my neck on the line getting you out, I’m not bothering with the rest.” Chubba didn’t wait for their response, turning his dark shell toward them as he began to descend the stairs. Blizzerd growled as he saw Chubba reject helping the others, but he didn’t move to stop him. “We’re not going to run off like cowards, are we?” He shot at the rest of the former battlers - he thought he could guess their response, but he wanted to be positive. Shaking his head vigorously was Xavier. “I’m not leaving Gamma behind,” he pointed out. “He’s the only ex-battler who wasn’t put in our cell. No, we’re going to have to go to the other tower.” The Bandit cast his eyes, barely visible behind his cracked mask, to the other stone tower, lurking ominously behind them. “S-shouldn’t we save... everyone?” A quiet voice asked. Everyone turned to look at Sarge. “Of course.” Shazam said confidently. The others looked at each other, Blizzerd’s eyes catching Aaron’s. The two of them nodded in unison - it would be only fair. It would take a fair chunk out of the Koopa’s hold on Gusty Gulch, for the Place of the Unruly was a symbol of Koopan power in Gusty Gulch. Xavier shrugged. “I was hoping to just rescue Gamma and the rest, but I can see we’re outvoted. Are we planning to fight?” Lifting a hand up, his hand crackling as sparks shot between his splayed fingers, Aaron nodded. “I might not have my sword, but I have my electric powers.” Sarge exhaled a plume of ice breath at Aaron’s side, proving that he may be spearless but he was still dangerous. Xavier braced his fists, curling them up with determination. “And I still have my liver!” Shazam declared, referencing the mechanism Snifits shot stones out of themselves. He turned toward the stairs, spitting a stone out of the orifice that served as both his nose and mouth as he did so. “Let’s go liberate some Clubbas.” “I have every power a Wizzerd should have,” Blizzerd said, conscious of the lie. There would always be Wizzerd powers that would evade him, because of his lack of familiarity with his own species. He would be fine - he knew enough about himself. Suddenly, red lights began to blare from the tower, along with an earsplitting siren. It felt as if the very foundations of the Place of the Unruly were swaying as a sudden rumbling commenced on the stone floors before, voices raised in confusion. “We’ve been found out.” Blizzerd grunted, feeling no fear. “Let’s go.” * All hell had broken loose. Paralus had no idea what was going on, only that every guard had immediately panicked at the sound of the sirens, racing down the hall to their colleagues, screaming at each other, wondering what was going on. The message that Paralus managed to glean from their panicked yells was that some prisoners had broken loose, and they were some of the highest security prisoners. He slammed the bars angrily - in the confusion, this would be perfect to slip away. Gamma and Mud were having a discussion behind him - Paralus could care less. He guessed that the Bandit was trying to calm down the Star Kid, who was having another panic attack. The Star Kid was certain, absolutely certain, that it was Xavier who was escaping without him. Paralus rolled his eyes. “Clubbette!” Paralus exclaimed as he saw a light blue shape lumber down the now deserted halls toward their cell. Many of the other high security Clubban prisoners hissed at her arrival, awake and alert, many of them trying to escape like Paralus, but Clubbette appeared as they were as far away as the moon as she raced toward their cell. “What’s going on?” He shouted as she neared. “Your battler friends got out, and decided to free most of the other prisoners along the way,” Clubbette hissed, fumbling with something Paralus hadn’t initially noticed. She had brought a key ring, and was rummaging around for the right key to free Paralus, Gamma and Mud. “Aren’t you loyal to Ludwig?” Paralus asked sharply. He had begun to appreciate Clubbette’s presence in the weeks since she took him to see his mother, but he still had doubts about her loyalties to Clubba’s. Clubbette smirked, the click of the lock echoing through the halls, the screams and yells of the other tower and various floors fading into insignificance for Paralus. “Was.” She answered, racing to another cell as Paralus shoved his own open. “If being loyal to Ludwig means I have to betray my friends and my species, I’ll take the other route!” She called back as she opened another cell, the Clubbas inside streaming out. Feeling as though he could’ve leapt with delight, Paralus raced over to another cell, slamming his fist on the magically reinforced lock. His hand bounced off painfully. Swearing, Paralus saw Gamma had floated up behind him. Wordlessly, the Star Kid used his magic to weaken the lock’s protection, and when Paralus slammed his fist on it again, it shattered. “For the Clubbas!” Paralus shouted, racing over to another cell. The clicks of the locks were all he could hear as Clubbette freed more Clubbas, all of them beginning to shout with Paralus. “For the Clubbas! For the Clubbas!” “For the Clubbas!” Paralus slammed lock after lock with Gamma’s assistance, meeting the hopeful and proud eyes of those previously entrapped with the glory of their newfound freedom. “For the Clubbas!” They rumbled, and suddenly, Paralus realized that they weren’t the only ones screaming their defiance at the Koopas. He could feel the floors below them rumbling, every few seconds, every tower, every floor, every person in those floors, roared with passion: “For the Clubbas!” The stronghold of the Koopas was failing. The Place of the Unruly had turned from the symbol of Koopan dominance to an anthill of Clubban defiance.